Best interest of the child at the core of Finnish Adoption Board´s work

The Adoption Board´s activities all focus on the best interests of the child. In adoption decisions concerning a minor, the rights of the child take precedence. The Finnish Adoption Act, the Hague Convention on International Adoption and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child oblige the authorities to primarily take the best interests of the child into account in decisions concerning adoption. If adoption is considered as an option, the child’s situation must be carefully investigated and documented.

When the competent authorities make adoption decisions, they must verify that the child needs adoption, is free for adoption and receives a safe, permanent family. Conditions favourable for the child’s wellbeing and balanced development must be ensured. In addition, before an individual adoption is confirmed, it must be ensured that joining the proposed family is in the best interests of the child, also considering the child’s individual needs.

The best interests of the child are secured through an adoption process based on the Adoption Act and international conventions. It is essential that adoptions are carried out with the approval of the competent authorities and under their supervision. A person wishing to adopt a child must participate in adoption counselling that prepares for adoptive parenthood. In addition, they need a valid adoption permission.

In international adoptions, the rights of the child include the obligation to first investigate domestic alternatives (subsidiarity principle). If there is no domestic alternative, adoption to another country may be considered for a child who has no family. In this case, the realisation of the best interests of the child is supervised by the adoption authorities of both the child’s country of origin and the country of the adoption applicants.